I regret to read the following:
“Another order of dalits, of the pasi community, is even more set apart. By tradition, they are swineherds; dalits, unlike higher-order Hindus, being meat-eaters. They also brew liquor from the flowers of the mahua tree and, because of this and a reputation for banditry, were deemed a “criminal caste” by the British. That brought harsh sanctions on the pasis......”

The allegation of “criminal caste” by the British” against the Pasi community is particularly unfortunate and exposes ignorance of the correspondent. The Criminal Tribes Act (for brevity, CT Act) 1871 enjoined thus as to who were criminals:“If the local government has reason to believe that any tribe, gang or class of persons or any part of a tribe is addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences, it may, by notification in local official Gazette, declare that such tribe, gang or class or as the case may be, that such part of the tribe, gang or class is criminal tribe for the purposes of this Act.” It refrained from naming any caste per se as criminal as such.

Let it be noted that a decade ago, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), passed in October 1860, was enforced with effect from 1 April 1861. The CT Act was nothing novel. Few of the sections of the IPC were lifted to form the core of the CT Act.

If crimes were actual guide to declare any caste as “criminal tribe” the position would be different. The table-1 is culled from Bengal Administration Report 1872-73 descloses the truth nakedly.

Table showing ratio of criminal of a few selected castes in jail in the year the CT Act was enforced.

1.Of the Kayastha 1 in 1,404 was in jail during 1872
2.Of the Rajput & Chhetri 1 in 1,425 was in jail during 1872
3.Of the Hari 1 in 1,465 was in jail during 1872
4.Of the Kahar 1 in 1,504 was in jail during 1872
5.Of the Aguri 1 in 1,585 was in jail during 1872
6.Of the Brahman 1 in 1,808 was in jail in 1872
7.Of the Gond 1 in 1,833 was in jail in 1872
8.Of the Bhumij 1 in 1,869 was in jail in 1872
9.Of the Baniah 1 in 2,073 was in jail in 1872
10.Of the Goala 1 in 2,085 was in jail in 1872
11.Of the Gandhabanik 1 in 2,301 was in jail in 1872
12.Of the Sadgop 1 in 2,301 was in jail in 1872
13.Of the Santal 1 in 2,302 was in jail in 1872
14.Of the Pasi 1 in 2,351 was in jail in 1872
[(Report on the Administration of Bengal, 1872-73, pp. 132-133]

Readers may find the position of the Pasi vis-a-vis Kayasth, Brahman and Rajput in particular revealing, though shocking. Of course, this is not the report of Uttar Pradesh. Why the castes superior to the Pasi have not gone down in history and popular perception as criminal tribes? It's an enigma for me.

The reputation of these upper castes did not suffer though they committed crimes more than the Pasi and similar others at the bottom end of the society in the year CT Act was put into practice.

The Economist shouldn't get into mouthing the Hindu perception in reviling the low social order of India.
I feel sad at such effort and object it. Please desist from making such baseless allegation. If you have to, please also focus as the above demonstrate.

very good and truthful article portraying a poor rural UP village, wondering if the Hindu caste system will ever be extinguished?? as
India economy progress rapidly, or it's just inborn, inherent in
homo sapiens??
an apolitics article by Economist, well done

My goodness, all the rants about the caste system are not only real but in reality it is worse.

I sincerely hope these oppressed villagers have better voice and freedom, instead of having their women snatched by thugs of a slightly higher (but still low) caste. It bewilders me how can people accept such living conditions, only oppression by the majority comes to mind.

My Indian friends are not willing to talk about this or maybe they have just accepted this as the norm, hope the India intellects can speak for all their people instead of bragging sending rockets to the moon (How does it help people in Shahabpur?).

This is a beautifully written and very honest report from a "Pippli" like village. Many congrats for the superb piece.

Its true that India is a contradiction. And its also true that more than anywhere else in the world, it is in India that things , people , policies, even needs , look different depending on where u look at it from, almost like you twist the kaleidoscope every time.

Equality for all , even in theory , is a very alien western concept in this land of a decaying ancient civilisation, and may take more time yet in superimposing itself on centuries of clear cut divisions and demarcations. And yes , a lot of the old 'Culture' would be lost eventually , and a new semi-homogeneity may replace it. Whether you should be happy or sad about it depends once again on where you are looking at it from!

Outstanding piece of writing.
Most Indians commenting on this (probably including myself) would not do what the correspondent has done, actually stay in a village, share space with the locals - brilliant, keep it up!!!
Thank you for providing such a fascinating account of life in the village.

First things first. A delightfully written piece. If this was not an article, this would qualify for a short story or novel!! Well done TE and the author.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to write a review yesterday but could not bring myself to do it. Emotions were running all over me. Yes I am Indian and there are plenty of things to be utterly ashamed off in this article as one. Yet the author handled it very sensitively and craftily in the end that you are left defenseless.

Yes, I cant help but agree with some of the sentiments expressed by reviewers that South India is probably a good 30 - 40 years ahead of North India ( or probably the CHennai-Kanpur line analogy ). As a South Indian, I cannot being myself to visit the BIMARU states or stand the stark social disparity.

I would have thought that Mayawati improved the situation of UP , but I guess India and UP are so large that it takes ages for change to roll across. This piece ,again, is so refreshingly honest that you get the real picture outside of the Indian media finally. And kudos to the commentators for accepting it in general. I suppose, the authors sense of hope gives us all a tiny sense of hope and relief in the end.

Finally, you begin to understand the Maoist movement and why the far right strives so hard to prop up communal hatred. The truth is that , if there is no diversion, the smoking volcano that is casteism and dalits will overpower the social hierarchy that the far right built up for 100s , if not 1000s, of years. I don't intend to paint all Brahmins with the same brush. I have come across so many wonderful, caring ones who are first and foremost humanitarians.

If one is determined it is possible to find the negetivities such as the one described in this article. In India where well over 300 million people are living in poverty, a fact which is not denied rather accepted with a rider that the number is more, there shall be thousands of villages like Shahabpur. But it is not as if things have not improved or not improving. Persons, who have travelled extensively in different parts of India at different times from fifties through sixties, saventies and onwards, would not have any difficulties in appreciciating the improvements and the trends. A good way of getting a sense of the trend of condition of villages and villagers is to compere the latest census data on different parameters of human development index with earlier census data. The picyure one would then see would far more objective and dispassionate. One can say with some degree of confidence that there may still huge numbers children not going to school, huge number of people suffering from malnutrition, caste based discrimination may manifest in our social dispensation and so on, but Indian villages no longer have separate schools , different health centres, separate temples for different castes. In fact through a process of heightened politicization lowliest of traditional caste groups have effectively organised themselves into pressure groups, which not only articulate their demands on system but also formed their own parties, which call the shot in hindi heartland to which Shahabpur belongs. In fact increasing marginalisation of two of our national parties, Congress and BJP, in a large part of hindi belt is the direct result of this phenomena. Similar things have happened down South and farther easy in Tamil Nadu, Kerela and West Bengal long time ago. In many of non hindi belt states, caste based attrocities described in this article are not there generally. India is a evolving society and given the legacies of millenia and lost opportunities of first industrial revulution it can be reasonably be expected that Indian villages too will emerge out of their many predicament. Possibly POVERTY AND BACKWARDNESS of our villages are potentially the most powerful engines of growth. A recent report of UN repeats that India ( ALONG WITH Chaina ) shall drive growth and provide stability to world economic order. If this is so with merely 250 million Indian middle class, it is not difficult to estimate what India can do to herself exclusively catering to her domestic market and not becoming overly dependent on exports to developing countries. An attempt to paint a dismal picture of India is hardly ustified because story of one village of proverbial cow belt is not the story of India as such.

this article just remind me my upbring in a village just within 100km from the said village. the article so well articulated as if the editor has been lived for long while. Article truly painted most aspects of typical village life in UP, specially cast system. Although, I was on other side ( so called upper caste ) i could feel the plight and the way lower cast people being treated by at that time. but over time of around 10 years, things have been changed for good.

Please do not color poverty with shades of caste. People across all caste s are equally poor in our villages. What you say is true to certain extent but the plight of these migrant workers in bigger cities is no better either. The living conditions, animosity by fellow Indians (read Raj Thackrey & Co) and opportunistic politicians (read honorable P Chidambaram) makes life for these expatriates in their own country miserable. What have changed in these villages over last golden decade of Indian economy are infiltration of cheaper mobile phones, cable television and brand penetration of FMCG’s. Poorly constructed roads, in-adequate/ under staffed government funded medical and educational institutions, sanitation, lack of electricity or even clean drinking water make living conditions in villages deplorable. Anarchy and Hooliganism are accepted facts. Nothing will change over near foreseeable future as well and India growth story remains a Myth to us village Indians. When Pandit Nehru gave his famous speech in parliament on eve of Independence he choose English as his language. Though the speech instilled confidence and hope a majority of Indians could hardly understand it then. Our situation has not changed much. We still look towards these mega cities and wait for the ever elusive growth to visit our villages.

@CatIndian:
I cannot agree with you that GDP comparison is Flake. You got to read works of the gifted Scottish Writer William Dalrymple. The comparison I gave is actually his.

Today India's GDP is not 25 times as it was before.
Look at the history of UK. East India company was the main contributor to UK's economy. Wealth of India (and Other Countries) was just drained to UK.
Whatever they did - Building of Roads, Canals, Post, railway all had the agenda of facilitating the Looting (Or Trade if you want look fair).
The colleges and universities churned out Pesudo - elites for fascilitating the rule or else helped in spreading Christianity (Which for you may be OK).
They have used indian soldiers for 2 World Wars.
The divide and rule policy - because of which the nation has suffred and continue to suffer.
Barely after 60 years of End of Colonial Assets, now UK and other Colonial powers seams to be declining.
I would disagree with any body who says UK has a good Future.

It is always challenging to address issues of fast changing world, particularly when we have massive poverty and complex issues such as Caste and Corruption to deal with simultaneously.

There is a hope because Growth can sometime solve these as naturally as it is created in first place.

Good also to see that the lower casts are getting their prides protected, which feels indeed very important when you have generations insulted without protection. That is a big success for Mayawati and BSP.

So vividly written, it brought tears to my eyes. The plight and misery of the subjugated and subservient all over India is a deplorable statement on the better-off. It's not the religion - it's old habits, customs and ignorance that can be rooted out by education and awareness - one village at a time. I hope, I wish.
There were two bright spots in the article worth mentioning. One, the smiling faces of the children in the family photo. Second, like parents everywhere, Sarju also wants his children to lead better lives, to break from the heriditary line of work and to seek a happier future. Isn't that what it's all about - to be happy? It's not about being rich or poor, or living in a village or city, or in India or anywhere else. And it's also about living with hope.

Simply Superb! This article draws out the complexities of seemingly simple village life just right, without being too judgmental. A compelling word picture that captures so comprehensively, the current state of casteism, impact of urbanization, Hindu-Muslim relations – it is like a luncheon buffet or an epic like the Mahabharata.
Here are some topics that I would sincerely urge the author to do a similar pieces on:
1) Impact of NREGA on rural life
2) Agricultural revolution in Gujarat – Is it for real?
3) Microfinance in AP and Karnataka
4) Chattisgarh Public Distribution System
5) Madhya Pradesh Public Distribution System – this is based on food vouchers
6) Impact of food inflation on the slum dwellers of Dharavi. This would be a great follow up to an earlier piece that appeared sometime ago.
7) Day in the life of a marginal farmer

….the list is simply endless

We need serious journalism of the type you have presented, it is a breath of fresh air especially given the current state of the Indian mainstream media.